A YouTube for Hans

[BobH]

Klompenmaker

If the voice over is inappropriate, I plead an ignorance of the Dutch language.

[HansV]

It's a documentary about the way wooden shoes ("klompen" in Dutch) are made, nothing inappropriate about it.

[BobH]

I'm a bit far removed from my alpha Dutch ancestor (Simon de Artsen) in New Amsterdam in the 1650s.. I think that the de Artsen's had become the DeHarts by the 18th Century after intermarriing with the English so that the Dutch language was lost to the family before I came along 300 years later. My paternal great grandmother was a DeHart.

That's why I posted a disclaimer on knowing what was being said in the voice over.

[Jezza]

I find watching that absolutely fascinating, to see the way they are created using specialist tools so quickly beggars belief to think how long it would take just to make one pair by hand.

I have to say that the bandsaw at the beginning gave me the heebie jeebies

[westerneagle]

I have to say that the bandsaw at the beginning gave me the heebie jeebies

If that was done in the USA OSHA would have demanded that every piece of machinery have guards, shields, etc. and he would not have been allowed to wear those long sleeves!! He would have been wearing safety glasses, and ear protection.
AND, all saw dust would have to be vacuumed away as its made. The shop would have been air conditioned with better lighting and union reps would have looking on to make sure that nothing he was doing would cause carpel tunnel injury. . . . .

Boy that just took the fun out of it. . . . . . . .

[HansV]

If it were a regular commercial enterprise, it would of course violate Dutch and European Union regulation. I suppose it's tolerated because it's a relic of the past.

[westerneagle]

I suppose it's tolerated because it's a relic of the past.

My wife says that is the only reason she tolerates me. . . . . .

[HansV]

My wife says that is the only reason she tolerates me. . . . . .

Oh dear...

[BobH]

In the US, home shops are not regulated by the government or unions as has been suggested. Only commercial shops would be.

I wonder if this might be a one-man operation and, therefore, falls outside the normal regulations.

For a one-man show, he has some rather use-specific machines; however, his production seems to be great enough that I could easily believe that he has no employees. Could it be that he bought out the machinery when a commercial enterprise decided to close, rather than comply with government rules, and that he got the equipment at bargain prices?

[HansV]

In the past, there were lots of small workshops making wooden shoes, many were one-man operations, others had perhaps one or two employees and a couple of pupils learning the trade. Initially it was all handiwork, but as you can see in the video, machinery was used later on.
Nowadays, production (mostly for the tourist trade) takes place on a larger scale and is more mechanized, but some people keep up the traditional, small-scale production.